Six Machine Guns!!!

I received a unique and unexpected Father's Day gift from my very liberal anti-gun wife: An hour at the range to shoot six different machine guns. It was a Heritage Guild Father's Day special. I told you guys my wife would come around eventually. I had to take it slow (2.5 years) before I could become a gun owner. She's more liberal than I, and I'm fairly liberal. Anyway, having shot a rifle only once in my life at this very same range (an AR-15) I showed up at my appointed time to shoot the following (all ammunition and gear and instruction pre-paid):

G36
MP5
Uzi
M4
M249 SAW
Barrett 240

What a thrill! The MP5 kept jamming. I didn't care because it was such a thrill to shoot the actual real weapon I often arm my characters with in Rainbow Six. The Uzi was crazy. I used two hands. It was spray and pray. The M4 was more of a carbine but nice and light weight. My favorite by far was the SAW. I used a tripod for it and the Barrett. The SAW was like heaven on earth. Hardly any friggin' recoil! I guess because of the weight? I was putting bullets into the same hole from 75 feet. Rapidly. No recoil! Wow! Big time fun, but that SAW is dangerous because you can actually hit what you aim at with full finger trigger depression not just short bursts. What a Father's Day present!

For my first guns, and after copious research on YouTube, I became a Beretta man! PX4 Storm Compact in 9mm for home defense and CX4 9mm Carbine. I haven't yet taken the CX4 out of the case. I bought it based on what I researched on YouTube. Don't laugh but until I saw it on the Beretta website and checked out a ton of YouTube videos just a few weeks ago, I didn't even know what a carbine was or how it was different than a rifle. I can use the same bullets in both weapons!!! But I spent a couple of days at the range with the PX4 Storm Compact. Love it. I don't know when I'll have time to actually try the CX4 carbine. Perhaps I should've tried it before I bought it, but I bought a 75K Jaguar without ever driving one or even seeing one (a new model) so what's the risk with a few hundred dollars? The CX4 looks so cool.

I still want to get an AR-15 because it is the most popular firearm (for civilians) in America. But I have a question for you guys who grew up with guns. I'm looking at a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Sport II. Here is what I don't get. I saw this same rifle in a store flyer. It was either Cabelas or that Bass something store. I've never been in either store -there are none close to me- but I saw the flyer online. There is also an M&P Sport II with something in it called MOE and Magpul. I have no clue about MOE and Magpul. The prices are different, about a $100, but they look basically the same. What the heck is the difference? Which one should I get? I'm thinking of becoming a Beretta and S&W man. If I get one of the Sport II AR-15s and the M&P Shield as my CCW, my allegiance to Beretta and S&W will be established.

I can't answer any of your questions, but your experience sounds like a lot of fun! And it sounds like your wife is a keeper

MOE is Magpul Original Equipment. Pretty humorous that a major player in non-original equipment would come up with a tag of MOE.

AR15.com is a good site and will answer virtually every question you could have.


http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_118/548084_To_MOE_or_not_to_MOE_.html

Thanks for the website link. I went there and read the posts. It seems MOE + Magpul is the way to go, rather than a near identical AR-15 from the same manufacturer but without the MOE Magpul stuff. I still don't know what it does exactly but it sounds like something desirable.

Magpul is popular because their parts tend to be some of the best while being very affordable given a lot of the competition. Also, most of what they make looks nice. For that reason it is a very popular choice, and most brands offer MOE versions of their ARs (Colt, S&W, ect.).

Thanks!

Plainsman, congrats on your Father's day present !!! .. and on your wife's progress.

As for the purchase decisions, I'd recommend that you, (to the extent that it is feasible) put your hands on stuff before committing to it. Magpul makes a lot of good stuff, but some of it is designed for particular purposes that may not be applicable to you in some cases. They make the AR-15 pistol grips in different angles, for instance. Your rifle configuration and shooting style could make some grip angles more comfortable for you than others.

Get that carbine to the range! You need to verify it works with the ammunition you want to use, and what point of aim it shoots to. You may need it someday, and that is stuff you want settled beforehand.

Pew pew pew!

Lots of fun, but it probably also showed how ridiculous the movies are when it comes to automatic fire!

Magpul tends to produce a lot of good products, but stuff like grips in particular are designed to be held in the magpul style, which is a little different from the regular way you might have learned

pick yourself up a 22 LR rifle as well for plinking practice on a budget.

Before Magpul, AR-15's all had the same look, the only differences were barrel length and if it had a full stock or a collapsing stock. The ergonomics were good, better than pretty much any other rifle, arguably.

But then Magpul started making new shapes for buttstocks, pistolgrips, handguards, and some other addons. And that has made the ergonomics of an AR pattern rifle even better than "good". It allows for custom setup that the user prefers. It's quality stuff that's very tough.

Is Magpul products necessary? No. NO not at all. But they are nice, and they make a nice rifle nicer, better. My AR-15 features Magpul: collapsing buttstock (SL), magpul pistol grip (thin small nearly vertical), a Magpul vertical grip, and a Magpul handstop on the side of the vertical grip, for the web of my thumb. The handguard I have isn't made by Magpul, but it IS made to Magpul's M-LOK specifications, which means it's lighter than the normal quad rail.

The single best product they make though, is their PMAG magazines for AR-15's. They are a very tough polymer mag that's VERY reliable, and yet still cheap. These have become an industry standard after just 5 years, against which all others are measured. Proven to the max in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Back in 2002 I had an idea for a company like that... really wish I'd followed through on that. The founding members are rich enough to have retired already.

M4 is a carbine